Does anyone know of a way to stop my two boys (Hungarian Vizslas) from making such a diabolical mess of the grass in our garden? It's their wee but I think it might be exceptionally strong because it kills the grass within a matter of hours. We've got more dead grass than green. Anything I can add to their food/water to make it less potent or any other suggestions gratefully received. (They are both walked for about 3 hours a day so it's not as if it's all dumped in the back garden!
Thanks

There are some herbal tablets out there, they're called greenum I think!

They are supposed to neutralise the acid in the dogs wee

Not sure if they work though

you can get them in pets at home

That's really helpful, I didn't even know such a thing existed, than you. I'll look for some at the weekend. It sounds like such a silly thing but I've worked really hard on the garden this summer, the borders look pretty despite the dogs deciding they'll do a mad dash through them occasionally but the grass is a disaster area! I've spent a fortune on grass seed and turf and just wondered if there was an easier solution.
Thanks again for the suggestion
Michele

You should be aware that anything that alters the acidity of your dogs urine can lead to medical problems such as bladder or kidney stones, personally I would rather have the expense of dealing with the grass :)

No consolation, but they will soon be cocking their legs and killing the bushes as well, and they are better than bitches who’s urine will kill anything, even the weeds.

Oh heavens, why is life so complicated! I too would much rather have dead grass than a medical problem for the boys. Trip to the vets for some advice I think

Don't think your boys have a problem it is just a fact of life, if you are fond of having a nice garden then perhaps you could fence of a people only bit and then you could stop worring about the dog bit, just need to pick up and admire the pattern on the grass.

Why not target train your dogs - Ive trained my pup to go on one corner of grass which he now knows is his toilet. You could do this so that at least the damage to your grass is limited or perhaps put in a small area of gravel for them to pee on? If you want some advice on target training, Id be happy to drop you and email with a rough guide :)

Hi Isla75

Would you mind emailing me that rough guide? I have a 5mth Chocolate Lab who is killing our garden :)
If I could train him to go in a particular place it would be sooo much easier.

Thanks everso!!

Cathy

And me too please :) And if you have any tips on persuding a puppy that he *does* want to have a wee before I put him in bed at night, that would also be much appreciated :D
Perhaps the info should be posted on the site, as it looks like there are a few people interested.

Thanks,

Sarah

Ok, heres the mail that I just sent Cathy for anyone else who's interested...

***Hi Cathy,

This is just how I taught mine so feel free to adapt to suit!!

Firstly I taught mine to pee on command!! It was really easy to teach and is VERY useful if youre taking them visiting to a friends house or putting them in the car for an hour long journey etc. You can do this really simply - when they are having a pee normally, give the command that you want them to recognise - mine is "go pee"! Inventive huh?! At the end of his pee I treat and praise him. Now I can get him to empty himself before puppy class rather than during it!! :) If you teach this bit then it makes target training a bit easier.

When youre target training, you should set a clear boundary and ideally the acceptable area to pee in should be a different texture or smell so that your dog can recognise it clearly. If its just a patch of grass within a lawn that you want him to use then make sure YOU at least know the boundaries of his loo and you stick to them - if his toilet gets bigger and smaller from one day to the next, he'll just get confused! Next, you need some different grades of treats. If your pup has been house trained and therefore ALWAYS goes in the garden then you dont reward at all for peeing on the grass - if he pee's 2 ft within his toilet then he gets a "good boy" - within 1 foot and he gets a doggie treat and some petting - within the correct toilet area, he gets some cheese, sausage, liver, and lots and lots of praise. If youve taught him to pee on command then its a bit easier because you can command him to "go pee" when he enters his toilet area and he can look to you for guidance of where he should pee in order to hit the jackpot!!

You can also teach your dog to poo on command and Logan is getting the hang of this but as they poo less frequently than they pee, the learning is a bit slower. The biggest problem Ive had is trying to come up with a poo command that Im happy to use in public!! :)

Hope this helps you and let me know how you get on!

Isla Kirk

Should have also mentioned that as your doggy gets the hang of target training, you should gradually phase out the treats so that he only gets a "good boy" for going 1ft outside his toilet and a doggy treat for going within the boundaries...then once he gets that, he only gets a reward for going within the boundaries and gets nothing for a near miss! :)

Hi Isla75

Thats for that will give it a go!

Not sure if you or anyone can help me with this one............
Pup is brill now..never any accidents even at night, but he will only go to the loo in the garden. If I take him for a walk he wont go. We dont walk far only 20 mins or so at the moment so he might just not need to...but I'm sure hes holding it until we get home.

I do use "go wee" which hes starting to understand more , should I just keep trying with this when we go for a walk.

Thanks for all the help!!!
Cathy :D

Id just keep at it - when I got my pup at first, he wouldnt go outside at all. Hed wait until he was back home and then go on his training pads!! :( Try taking him a walk first thing in the morning before hes been let out as hes bound to be bursting then and he'll have to go on his walk, then praise him lots so that he knows its ok to go on a walk! :D

Not sure how much help this suggestion is but it may help a little.

When my lot go out for a piddle on the grass either my husband and I stand at the door when they are finished we hose the areas they have piddled in. There are times we are lazy but the times we have done it we feel it has helped considerably.

Pam

Hi chaps- My two labs are both trained to 'go on command'. I've found that using a phrase such as 'be quick or get busy' can help a lot when you're out in company, and they are not phrases that are likely to come up in everyday life or at training classes. Good luck!

We are far more blatant in our house. "Hurry up, Pees and Poos" gets the oldest one going and "puppy piddles" for the baby (18mths)

It's much easier just to give up on the grass, or, think of the pee spots as a changing garden artscape. Areas of normal, untouched grass. Circles of dead grass. Followed by dead grass regrowing from the roots even lusher and faster growing from nitrogen rich peed on soil. Much more interesting than an even, green lawn.

Stacey <-- whose lawn is totally brown and crispy now from the drought in the South.